For lovers of movies from the silent era to modern day with an emphasis on horror, sci-fi, exploitation, WIP, westerns and anything of the fantastic and bizarre. This is also for people who like 70's and 80's music and a little pro wrestling thrown in for good measure.
THIS SITE IS DEDICATED TO BOB WILKINS, GEORGE ROMERO, ALAN FREED ,ROGER CORMAN, CARMEN ELECTRA, VELVET SKY, CAROLINE MUNRO, JOHN FREDRIKSEN, JOHN ZACHERLE, JUDY PACE and, of course, CASEY KASEM.

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Thursday, June 30, 2016

Excellent tale about corruption and murder. Edmond O' Brien is a cop named Barney Nolan who in the opening moments of the film kills a stoolie carrying $25,000 in cash. Barney steals the cash and kills the man while making it look like a police procedure.

Unbeknownst to Barney there is a witness, a deaf mute whom he later kills. His girlfriend Patty is played by the gorgeous Marla English. This was her first credited role in a film, and you first see her in a cigarette girls outfit that made my tongue hit the floor.

Barney's partner is Det. Sgt. Mark Brewster played by John Agar. Brewster is a good cop and as the noose of the investigation tightens around Barney's neck the more Brewster suspects him.

This is a damn well made film directed by Howard Koch and Edmond O' Brien. The quality of the print from Kino is staggeringly beautiful. I wish more of the 50's film noir would be released to Blu-ray.

The rest of the cast in this top noth thriller include Emile Meyer, Carolyn Jones, Claude Akins (in an unforgettable role), and William Schallert.

I cannot recommend this film enough. This is what filmmaking should be.

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

This is basically a remake of the Universal film "Invisible Man Returns". A man is accused of murder and sentenced to 99 years in prison.

His brother is a scientist and he develops a serum that can render someone invisible. He gives it to his brother who proceeds to simply walk out of jail. He now must prove his innocence so he can be legally released from jail.

The drug has one side effect and that is a slow, creeping insanity that finally takes the man over. he decides he does not want to be visible again, he wants to terrorize the city and become a God.

This is a well acted film with some pretty good special effects and VCI gives us both the Spanish language version and the English version. This has been a hard one to find for a while, but thanks to VCI it is again available for the masses.

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Olive has announced that they are releasing the Republic Serial "COMMANDER CODY SKY MARSHALL OF THE UNIVERSE", "HORRIBLE DR. HICHCOCK" the US version" and "MONSTER OF PIEDRAS BLANCAS" all on Blu-ray and DVD in Sept.

I am very happy about Monster of Piedras Blancas finally coming out. it has been a long wait. The discs should retail for $29.95 for Blu-ray or $24.95 for DVD.

This is by far the best print of this film I have ever seen. VCI brings us this Mexican horror tale based on the "Monkey's Paw" story.

This version isn't in English nor does it have subtitles, but if you know the story you can easily follow it. A Mexican man and wife have some problems and the wife is a very strong believer in spiritualism.

She is given a key by a spirit during one of the seances and three wishes. The key opens a "pandora's box" and that is where the trouble starts.

The ending is quite interesting and I enjoyed it. There are a few slow spots in this film, but stay with it. Not too bad even if it's not in English. This was out many, many years ago on DVD and the print was in English, but the quality was far below what I expected.

Thanks to VCI for making this rather obscure Mexican thriller available.

Monday, June 27, 2016

While previously being available on DVD on the MGM Midnight Movie line, this film finally makes it to Blu-ray thanks to Kino.

Agar and a crew of astronauts land on Uranus and instead of finding a cold barren planet they find it is much like Earth and is even inhabited by beautiful women!!

It seems an alien intellect is controlling the men thru their deepest thoughts! The men discover many things while exploring including a village one of them grew up in. There are also some pretty cool monsters in this film and some stock footage of a giant tarantula from the film "Earth Vs. The Spider".

When this was announced on Blu-ray many people wanted to know if the original Danish version of the film with different monsters was coming out as well, and I am sad to say that will never happen. AIP put their own monsters in the film because they were disappointed with the original Danish ones.

The film is fun and should please any sci-fi fan. the cast also includes the gorgeous Ann Smyrner, Greta Thyssen and Carl Ottosen. The print quality on the Blu-ray is incredible with very little damage. Recommended!!

Sunday, June 26, 2016

Lupus used the name "Rock Stevens" for this peplum. In this tale Hercules swings a mighty but stick as he knocks soldiers off of their horses with ease.

Our hero finds himself fighting an evil ruler of Babylon and an evil but very sexy queen played by the gorgeous Helga Line. Helga is one of the main reasons for watching this film. Every scene she is in makes it all worthwhile.

This is a fast paced film and one that will hold your attention, and Lupus does a very good job in the title role. He starred in four sword and sandal films in his career before hitting it big with Mission Impossible.

The print from Mill Creek is ok but the usual TV pan and scan version. Recommended for sword and sandal fans.

Saturday, June 25, 2016

Grier stars along with Margaret Markov in this exploitation version of "The Defiant Ones". Grier is a prostitute and Markov is a revolutionary who finds themselves in the same banana republic prison being lorded over by a lesbian prison warden (Lynn Borden).

They are sent to the city for more questioning and chained together at the wrist. Both make their escape and that is where the fun starts.

At first they are fighting each other every step of the way until they realize they need each other to survive while trying to elude the police dogs and fins food to eat.

This is a very enjoyable little film with two very beautiful leads and a supporting cast that includes Vic Diaz, Eddie Garcia and Sid Haig. It was, of course, shot in the Philipines and directed by Eddie Romero.

The Arrow Blu-ray is a sight to behold. The colors are very crisp and the film actually never looked better. If you get a chance, check it our. The disc also has an interesting interview with both Haig and Markov.

Friday, June 24, 2016

The second season of this great series starring Nick Adams as Johnny Yuma.

The second season had 40 episodes and most of them are pretty darn good. It had an impressive list of guest stars and some of the best written stories I have seen for a western TV show.

This is a a six disc set with five set aside for the show and the sixth has some interesting extras which I will get to later. The episodes run as follows....

JOHNNY YUMA AT APPOMATTOX 9/18/60...Johnny finds himself telling a young boy of his struggles with the outcome at Appomattox in order to keep him from killing someone.

THE BEQUEST 9/25/60...A man who has killed someone to help his own family asks Yuma to turn him in so he can collect the reward money and give it to his family. Elisha Cook, Jr and John Carradine star.

THE CHAMP 10/2/60...Yuma buys the contract of a friend who is now a boxer and tries to dissuade him from fighting further.

THE WAITING 10/9/60...Yuma is trapped in a small bar where a bounty hunter is holding the wife of a man wanted for a killing. The bounty hunter likes the wife a lot and he comes up with the idea to kill Yuma and pass him off as the woman's husband.

TO SEE THE ELEPHANT 10/16/60...A man asks Yuma to take his son into town to get some life experience in being a man.

DEATHWATCH 10/23/60...Yuma finds himself caught in the middle of a war between a sheepman who has bad war memories and Mexican bandits. James Best stars.

RUN KILLER RUN 10/30/60...Yuma is shackled to a killer by a Sheriff and is then forced to flee on foot with the killer.

THE HUNTED 11/6/60...Leonard Nimoy stars as a good friend of Yuma who has been proven innocent of murder. Unfortunately he has escaped from prison with a posse who is unaware of his innocence in pursuit.

THE LEGACY 11/13/60...A family frames Yuma for murder that one of them has committed. Robert Hutton, Jon Lormer and Soupy Sales star.

DON GRINGO 11/20/60...Yuma escorts a young woman to her pre-arranged marriage. The woman starts to have feelings for Yuma which brings trouble.

EXPLOSION 11/27/60...Yuma witnesses a man murder his partner in order to keep the money they robbed from the stage. Yuma takes to man to jail and his father uses a threat of blowing up the town with nitroglycerin to get his murderous son released. Douglas Spencer stars.

VINDICATION 12/4/60...Johnny boards a stagecoach after his horse is killed and finds a blind man who is still very bitter about his wife being killed after a previous holdup many years ago when the stage drive deserted them.

THE SCALP HUNTER 12/11/60...John Dehner stars as John Sims, Yuma's godfather. Here he asks John to help him find a savage indian who killed his wife. Very well made episode.

BERSERK 12/18/60...Yuma stops in a small town to visit an old friend named Dunsen but finds he has gone on a shooting spree due to war memories. Tom Drake stars.

THE HOPE CHEST 12/25/60...Yuma aids Ulysses Bowman (William Demerest) in a gun fight and then finds he has a bad habit of offering his hope chest of 200 dollars to anyone who will marry his daughter. Lovely Cathy O' Donnell is his daughter.

THE LIBERATORS 1/1/61...A woman doctor, her sister and their ill father are the only three people left in a town where everyone else has fled from a band a marauding Indians. Yuma is trapped with them when a group of Mexican insurgents take advantage of the situation.

THE GUARD 1/8/61...A sadistic guard who tortured Yuma in prison wants revenge for the treatment he received when Yuma escaped. Ed Nelson stars.

THE PROMISE 1/15/61...Yuma vows to stop the marriage of a woman to a very cruel and brutal man.

JERKWATER 1/22/61...A man who blames Yuma for his brother's death in the war provokes a gunfight which injures Yuma. John Dehner stars as John Sims who comes to help Johnny. very good show and Dehner is excellent.

PAPERBACK HERO 1/29/61...A newswoman writes about Johnny Yuma and she builds him up as a larger than life hero which puts his life in danger.

THE ACTRESS 2/5/61...One of my favorite episodes has Yuma chosen by an actress to take part in her play. Soon they are all kidnapped by a man who wants a performance for his ailing daughter. Sandra Knight stars and she is as sexy as ever.

THE THREAT 2/12/61...Yuma arrives in a small town and finds that nobody in the town wants to defend it from soon to be arriving marauders.

THE ROAD TO JERICHO 2/19/61...Yuma rescues a man from certain death and then finds he actually wants to rob a friend of Yuma's.

THE LAST DRINK 2/26/61...Yuma is on a mission to rescue his cousin from the clutches of a gunslinger.

THE BURYING OF SAMMY HART 3/5/61...An elderly Kiowa Indian is accused of kidnapping a young boy, but in reality the young boy as decided to accompany the dying man in his last hours. Great episode.

THE PIT 3/12/61...Yuman arrives in a small town to help a woman find her husband who has a huge mine, but finds the people in town aren't willing to help her at all.

SHRIEK OF SILENCE 3/19/61...Yuma is forced to kill an outlaw and then finds he has a deaf and mute son whom he tries to place with a new family.

TWO WEEKS 3/26/61...An angry Confederate prison camp survivor wins a bet against Yuma and so Johnny must live for two weeks in the same conditions as the former soldier did while in prison.

MIZ PURDY 4/2/61...Yuma helps a young woman living alone fight off marauders who have robbed a bank and killed a nearby family. Jason Evers and Pat Breslin co-star.

BALLAD OF DANNY BROWN 4/9/61...A woman awaits the return of her fiance from prison after a long stretch while her brother is waiting for him to kill him.

THE PROXY 4/16/61...Yuma joins an uneasy alliance to bring back a fugitive bank manager who was part of a scheme to have people lose their homes.

DECISION AT SWEETWATER 4/23/61...A saloon girl puts her life on the line when three killer hold up a stage and find that the money they are looking for is not there. They decide to take the bank managers son as hostage, but she volunteers to take his place. Yvette Vickers stars.

HELPING HAND 4/30/61...While seeking water Yuma is caught between two brothers and their feud with their uncle and cousin. Jack Elam stars.

THE UNCOURAGEOUS 5/7/61...Yuman strays into Mexico and becomes involved in a family feud.

MISSION VARINA 5/14/61...Yuma is asked by Jefferson Davis' wife to help bring him home after he is released from prison. Frieda Inescort stars.

THE CALLEY KID 5/21/61...Johnny tracks down the man who knocked him out and stole his horse. He finds that the man is the brother of a famous gunslinger/killer. Richard Bakalyan stars,

BEN WHITE 5/28/61...Yuma is part of a posse that is chasing a killer named Ben White. He is put in charge of White's captured wife and his life is put on the line due to her treachery.

THE FOUND 6/4/61...Yuma tends to a pregnant woman who is about to give birth while a posse hunts her killer husband.

THE HOSTAGE 6/11/61...Johnny stops to see and old friend from the war who is soon taken hostage by a man demanding that his brother be released from prison. Yuma is forced to act as a go between.

THE EXECUTIONER 6/18/61...A Shoshone chief keeps three white captives in exchange for three jailed braves. Yuma is chosen to get the braves and make a trade but soon finds that the braves are already dead.

There are 40 episodes in this season and the set from Shout Factory consists of 6 discs. The sixth disc has a lot of cool extras including a 66 min. interview with producer Andrew Fenady, and he proves to be a wealth of information. There is also an interview with Nick Adams' children Allyson and Jeb, production stills, commercials featuring Nick Adams and a thirty minute pilot of Fenady's proposed companion series entitled The Yank.

This is an excellent series and well worth the price to have in any Western TV collection. Most of the stories are above many others of their kind and Adams is perfect in the role. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

Thursday, June 23, 2016

This film has been reviewed here before, but is being redone for two reasons. 1. The film is in the Blu-ray version. 2. the film called "Just Desserts: The Making Of Creepshow" is due out on Blu-ray in just a few weeks.

Five jolting tales of horror make up this fine horror film from George A. Romero. The first tale is Father's Day and it's about a dead man who returns from the grave for his Father's Day cake. Ed Nelson, Carrie Nye and Vivica Lindfors star.

The second tale is "The Lonesome Death Of Jordy Verrill" which stars Stephen King as Jordy, a slow witted farmer who come into contact with a meteor and begins turning into a weed!!

The third tale is entitled "Something To Tide You Over" in which a man (Leslie Neilsen) plots a very interesting revenge against his unfaithful wife (Gaylen Ross) and her lover (Ted Danson). However, things don't go as planned.

The next tale is called "The Crate" and it concerns a monster living in a small crate that is discovered by a professor and used for revenge by the professor's friend. Fritz Weaver, Hal Holbrook and Adrienne Barbeau star.

The final tale is called "They're Creeping Up On You" in which an ultra rich man named Upson Pratt has a serious cockroach problem. E.G. Marshall is excellent in this segment.

The wrap around story is about a father (Tom Atkins) who throws the comic into the garbage, and his son seeks revenge with a voodoo doll.

A homage to EC Comics that is practically flawless. The acting, directing, music, colors and editing is perfect. This was a film I went to the theater to see every day it played for weeks and still have never gotten tired of it. it was also the inspiration for my film "Tales Of The Damned".

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

A young couple from America are living in India and have a furniture business. They have two children, one of whom is killed in a very tragic accident.

His mother has been overcome with grief to the point where she doesn't want to live anymore. Trying to help her is their maid, and Indian woman who tells of a mysterious temple deep in the woods of her hometown where the living and the dead can communicate.

The young mother visits the temple with the ashes of her son. She does everything as instructed by her maid and she actually gets to speak to her son one last time. However, one rule she doesn't follow is to never open the door no matter what her son says.

Well she does and that upsets the balance between the world of the dead and the living. Hence the spirit of her dead son comes back to the home and slowly changes into a monster.

This movie is filled with some shocking and scary moments and it briefly touches upon Hindu beliefs. I actually enjoyed this much more than I thought I would, and I found the ending to be a real kicker.

I would recommend you see this and see something that really tries, and often succeeds in being something different.

Saturday, June 18, 2016

Ferlin Husky stars as Woodrow Weatherby, a country singer who along with his lover Boots Malone (Joi Lansing) and his business manager Jeepers (Don Bowman)are traveling across country to a country music jamboree in Nashville.

They experience car trouble and are forced to spend the night in an old mansion that is said to be haunted. They discover that it is not only haunted, but is being use by spies who are after a top secret rocket formula.

The spies are played by Basil Rathbone. Lon Chaney, Jr., Linda Ho and John Carradine. Seeing these greats together make this film very worth while in my opinion.

There is plenty of country music from the likes of Sonny James, Merle Haggard, Molly Bee, Jim Kent and many others. This is a sequel to "Las Vegas Hillbillies" which is also a personal favorite of mine.

Contrary to all the negative things you may hear about this film, it is enjoyable for certain people, and just to see Joi Lansing is always a treat.

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Yes I reviewed this a long time ago, and I figured it was time to give it another watch.

Reg Park is Hercules in this great little adventure that finds him in the lost city of Atlantis which is ruled over by an evil queen.

The queen is played by Fay Spain and she is intent on ruling the entire world with the help of her superhuman army. Hercules doesn't like this idea one bit and sets out to stop her.

There is the mandatory annoying midget as is usual in most of these kinds of films, but Herc does manage to save a beautiful maiden from a weird looking lizard monster before discovering that the young woman is the Queen's daughter. This, as I said is a fun film, at least in my opinion.

There is some humor which just doesn't fly, but overall this is a good sword and sandal film that I believe most fans will like.

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

It was two years ago today we lost a true legend in broadcasting, Casey Kasem.

Casey would probably still be with us, but because of the cruel treatment he received from his wife he was taken a bit early and that is why I firmly support Kasem Cares.

Kasem Cares was started by his lovely daughter Kerri and if you want more information check out Google and see what it's all about.

Today is World Elder Abuse Day and while I don't usually take up causes, this one is VERY important to me for many reasons. Type in this link and find out more. https://www.facebook.com/KasemCaresFoundation.

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Jupiter is growing tired of his daughter, Venus and her sexual escapades on Mount Olympus and decides to have her marry either Vulcan, a working Mortal or Mars the God of war.

Things get out of hand when Mars and Venus go to earth and start a campaign of war along with Pluto and Eris. Mars actually wants to build a tower that reaches up to Olympus so the army can march and take over.

As I said, this is pretty wild stuff, but that is what sets this apart from most films of this kind. There are a few monsters in this and some truly beautiful women including Annie Gorassini as Venus and Bella Cortez as Aetna, the woman Vulcan loves.

Gordon Mitchell shows up in a small role as Pluto, the God of Darkness and he has a few memorable scenes as well. I cannot recommend this enough for it's sheer weirdness.

If you get a chance you may want to check this out. I have never sen another sword and sandal film quite like it.

Monday, June 13, 2016

The print from Sinister is excellent and this is a film that should be seen by all fantasy film fans.

The plot involves a young man who is chosen by his dead uncle to save his people from evil. he has to engage with a vicious demonic man called "Prince Of Magic" who has the ability to make people's heads spin around and shoot laser beams out of his hands.

There are plenty of action scenes including many fights with evil and even a dead body that comes out of the ocean! The young man named Lando finally challenges the Devil to come out and fight, which he does.

Satan is surrounded by beautiful women who have the ability to change into cats, dogs and snakes and they all attempt to kill Lando, but to no avail as Lando posses some magic powers of his own.

Sunday, June 12, 2016

Eric Bischoff started out his career in pro wrestling as an announcer for the AWA under the guidance of Verne Gagne. He slowly worked his way up and soon foun himself out of work after the AWA folded.

Going to work for WCW after that he did what has never been done before. he worked his way from announcer to the man who headed the company and took it to heights the company had only dreamed of.

Under Eric's lead the company started a show on Monday night called Nitro and it was live, which had never been done. This was the start of the classic "Monday Night Wars" and wrestling history. Bischoff also started a new "heel" group, of faction as the case may be called the NWO.

For a record 84 weeks WCW smashed WWE in the ratings and was the most watched show ever to be on cable TV. His philosophy was simple. Controversy creates cash and so does the element of surprise.

This three disc set takes a very detailed look at his career up to the present. Eric lives in Cody, Wyoming now and is not too involved in wrestling anymore. He lives quietly with his beautiful wife on a nice sized ranch and he enjoys that life now.

On this set you have his early days in AWA as well as other highlights including his top 10 most controversial moments and his wonderful run in WCW as the head of the NWO.

There is not a wrestling fan around that shouldn't see this set or own it. Bischoff was one of a kind in the wrestling business and a very welcome breath of fresh air in what was a dying industry. it is a shame there aren't people like him in the business today.